Flat knitting frame



Nov. 21, 1944. "w. WEL'KER FLAT KNITTING FRAME Filed July 12, 1940 In men for fliiorney.

Patented Nov. 21, .1944

FLAT KNITTING FRAME William Welker, Oberfrolma; Saxony, Germany; vested in the Allen Property Custodian -"Application In July 12, 1940, Serial No. 345,052

Germany September 8, 1938 2 Claim.

This invention relates to a semi-automatic welt forming device for flat knitting frames, in which two guides extending approximately parallel to the take-up direction of the goods are provided for the welt bar above the machine tableand, for lifting and lowering the welt bar, are jointly arranged on a horizontal shaft'disposed iniront of the table.

In a known welt forming device of this type the welt bar on being applied to the first course engages the sinker loops thereof, and special measures or arrangements are required for covering the welt. If special arrangements are to be avoided it is necessary for instance to displace the welt bar half a needle division prior to the covering of the welt or to impart a particular shape to the needles of the welt bar or to the knocking over bits or to associate the needles of the bar with special working parts. Furthermore, in the known device the knocking over bits are provided above the knocking over point with a hook which serves for temporarily holding the sinker loops of the first course hanging on the welt bar until the frame needles, coming from below, engage these loops. In order to insure semi-automatic production of a welt the welt bar has to execute motions in two different directions, that is, in the drawing-off direction of the fabric and in vertical direction. This is made possible by guides of the welt bar, which for this purpose are positioned on a horizontal shaft in front of the machine table and by being moved about this shaft permit vertical motion of the welt barthrough the medium of rocking levers positioned between the table and the needle bar for lifting the guides at the proper time. Additional rocking levers, also arranged between the machine table and the needle-bar and in front of the first set of rocking levers, serve for displacing the welt bar in its guides for motion in takeup direction.

The provision and arrangement of these rock ing levers in the known welt forming device involve, however, a serious drawback for the'reason that the space between the machine table and the needle bar in flat knitting frames is too small to accommodate two sets of rocking levers either side by side or one behind the other. This explains why this known proposal has not been generally adopted. v

It is the object of the invention to overcome this drawback and to provide alsoother advantages by applying the invention to a semi-automatic welt forming device in which the welt bar engages the needle loops'instead of. the sinker formation of the initial course of the welt and loops when placed in the initial course. A welt forming device of this class, compared with one whose welt bar engages the sinker loops, affords for instance the advantage that shifting of the bar during covering of the welt can be dispensed with and no special construction of the knocking over bits and of the needles of the welt bar or particular equipment of the latter is required.

In a welt forming device according to the invention the welt bar is disposed at the rear end of two rods displaceably positioned in the guides and extending with their front ends up to the table where they are in engagement with driving means on a second horizontal shaft, which impart to the welt bar motion in the take-up direction of the goods, both the horizontal shaft supporting the guides and the horizontal shaft for the driving means being oscillated from the main shaft to effect motion of the welt bar in the two directions mentioned.

The present invention is an improvement of the full automatic welt forming device described for instance in the German Patent No. 697,724 and British Patent'No. 456,145. Since these patents illustrate the construction of the welt forming device and its cooperation with the fiat knitting frame in great detail, such detailed illustration is not deemed necessary in this case. These patents illustrate a fully automatic welt forming device provided with an upright welt bar having hooks which are situated behind the needles of the flat knitting frame during the to the needles to return the loops held thereon to theneedles. The hooks are moved downwardly between the press edge and the needles in their high position, then are snapped into position with the cheeks extending around and to the rear of the needle shanks and thereafter are lifted with relation to the needles'to engage with and lift bights of yarn kinked thereon off the needle and clear of the needle beards.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing, in which Figured is a side view of a welt forming device according tothe invention in end position, and

Fig. 2 is a top view thereof.

The'device comprises a welt bar I which is inserted in the needle loops ofthe initial course by means of needles 2 each having a forwardly extending hook 3 provided with a groove for closing the frame needles which hold the needle 1 meshes to be engaged. The welt bar I, 2, 3 is disposed at the rear end of two rods 4, 6 dis-- guides 6, 1 are firmly mounted on a horizontal shaft III in front of the table 26. The shaft I0 is moved in pendulum fashion from the main machine shaft 30, to impart to the welt bar I, 2, 3 the vertical motions required for forming a welt. With their front end the rods 4, 5 extend up to the table 26 and are there in engagement with fingerlike members I2, I3 which are instrumental in imparting to the bar I, 2, 3 motionopposite to the take-up direction of the goods.

The members I2, I3 are firmly mounted on a second horizontal shaft I6 located in front of the table 26 and receiving oscillatory motion from the main shaft. The rods 4, 6 are fitted at their front ends with rolls I4, I5 to reduce frictional resistance. Oscillatory motion is imparted to the shafts Ill, I 6 from an eccentric mainshaft through eccentric levers II and 21, respectively. The lever II carries a roller 3| which is pressed against an eccentric 32. The lever 21 carries a roller 33 pressed against an eccentric 34. The eccentrics 32 and '34 are mounted on the main shaft 30 and the rollers 3| and 33 are pressed against them by sprin s which are attached to-the lower ends of the levers II and 21. Two eccentrics 32 and 34 are provided on the eccentric shaft for the levers II and 21. A cam (not shown) is disposed alongside each eccentric. The eccentric 32 serves for transmitting movements to the Welt bar during the forming and grabbing of the starting row of the welt portion, whereas the eccentric 34 serves to drive the welt bar when the starting row is brought back to the frame needles. The cam for each lever II or 21 comes into action when neither of the eccentrics is supposed to act. The rollers 3| and 33 of levers II and 21 are disposed in axially adjustable fashion on their levers so that said rollers can be moved as required on the cams or on either eccentric. Fig. 1 indicates a position of the welt forming device at which the welt is almost completed. The last course of the welt I1 is still on the needle bar I8, and the initial course is placed on the needles 2, 3 of the welt bar I, o that the fabric I1 forms about a welt rod IS a loop located in front of the hooks 3 of th needles 2 to facilitate the returning of the initial course to the frame needles I8 for covering the Welt. The welt bar I, 2, 3 is drawn up to the position shown in Fig. 1 by springs 8, 9, and the members 20, 2| limit the motions of the rods 4, 5. When the welt fabric begins to form a loop it is drawn off by means of the rod I9 which for this purpose is attached to the take-up in known manner.

The welt bar I, 2, 3 is preferably detachably connected with the rods 4, 5 so as to permit its removal after the covering of thewelt and full exposure of the section until completion of a stocking. .The welt rod I3 is inserted by means of levers 22, 23 which are firmly mounted upon a horizontal shaft 24 on the machine table and at the free ends of which the rod I 9 can be easily detachably held. The shaft 24 has no actuating 5 means and in order to turn it the operator grasps one of the levers 22 and 23 and turns it, thereby turning the shaft and all the levers 22 and 23. The rod I3 positioned between the levers 22, 23 is during motion of the levers in the direction of the arrow over the rear end of the guides 25 placedon the welt portion I1. The rod I3 is inserted during the knitting of the welt portion,

for which purpose the levers 22, 23 areflrst brought into upright position. The shaft 24 1 extends through the entire machine, and since the levers 22, 23 are firmly connected with the shaft 24, during motion of the shaft all rods I3 are inserted at once. The levers 22 lie with their free ends over the guides 6, 1 when the rods I3 are inserted, so that the guides 6, 1 do not interfere with the insertion.

The operation is as follows: Immediately after the loops of the first row are sunk, the rollers 3| and 33 of levers II and 25 21 are axially shifted from their cams (not shown) to the eccentrics 32 and 34 which operate during the formation and grabbing of the starting row of the welt portion. The result is that the eccentrics 32 and 34 now perform allthe movements shown by Figs. 2-7 of German Patent 697,724. That is, the welt bar is first lifted up by the oscillation of levers II and 21, and is then brought behind the frame needles I8, where 35 it serves to depress the beard of every second frame needle. Thereupon, the welt bar I is again brought in front of the frame needles l8 so as to grab the loops of the depressed needles. A11 this occurs during one rotation of the main shaft 30. At the same time, the rollers 3| and 33 of levers II and 21 are axially shifted back to the abovementioned cam, whereupon the welt portion is worked up. The levers II, 21, shafts III, l6, and guide portions 6, 1 remain stationary during the working up of the welt. Only the bars 4, 5 are moved towards the front portion of the machine so as to draw the goods, and this drawing movement is not effected by any action of the fingers I2, I3, but rather exclusively by the springs 8, 9. These springs 8, 9 continue acting until the sleeves 20, 2| of bars 4, 5 engage against the guide eyes of guide members 6, 1, said eyes facing the front part of the machine. This position is r shown in Fig. 1. The guide bars 4, 5 then also remain stationary. The welted ware is then drawn off by the welt rod I9, which rod has in the meantime been set in place. When the welt portion is finished, the rollers 3| and 33 of levers II and 21 are shifted from the above-mentioned cams to the eccentrics 32 and 34 intended for bringing the starting row back to the frame needles. These eccentrics, during one rotation of the eccentric shaft 30, now serve to return the 65 starting row of the welt portion to the frame needles (as per Figs. 7, 10 of German Patent 697,724). Thereupon, the rollers are again shifted to their cams.

It can thus be seen that the eccentrics 32 and 70 34 of levers II, 21 operate only during the formation of the starting row of the welt portion, and

during the return of this starting row to the frame needles. In the remaining period, the rollers of levers II, 21 ride on the cams which are provided next to these eccentrics. The drawing off movement of the welt bar is therefore exclusively effected by the force of springs 8, 9.

I claim:

1. In a flat knitting frame having a machine table and bar needles, a welt forming device, comprising an upright welt bar with hooks en.- gaging the needle loops of every second bar needle of the initial course of the fabric, said hooks being situated directly behind said needles during the formation of the initial course of the welt and also during the return thereof, guides for raising and lowering said bar, said guides extending over said table and having from ends situated in front of said table, a horizontal shaft on which said guides are firmly mounted, two rods extending approximately parallel to the take up direction of the goods, said rods being longitudinally movable in said guides and supporting said welt bar with their rear ends, a second horizontal shaft, means firmly mounted on said second shaft for engaging and driving said rods and imparting to the welt bar motion opposite to the takeup direction of the fabric, said driving means being in engagement with the front ends of said rods, a main shaft, and meansactuated by said main shaft for imparting oscillatory motion to both horizontal shafts. a

2. In a flat knitting frame a welt forming device according to claim 1, in which the driving means for the rods comprise fingerlike members against the inner edge of which the rods abut with their free ends.

WILLIAM WELKER. 

